Global trends driving post-pandemic business recovery

South Africa is well and truly on its way to planning its recovery from the Covid-Pandemic. As we have seen in other countries, specific trends are shaping the formulation of these plans and South Africa is no different. We are facing massive economic issues as well as structural issues within the country that directly impacts economic growth.

So where to from here? According to a Mercer Global Talent Trends report very specific trends are taking shape in South Africa.

Trends shaping our market

According to the report, four trends have emerged as South African companies contemplate post-pandemic recovery:

• new thinking on talent and skills retention;
• embracing technology;
• incorporating sustainability in business models; and
• investing more in employee well-being, benefits and engagement.

The article points out that while these trends emerged in 2020 as companies grappled with the pandemic, they have not only grown in relevance, but critically are going to shape the future of businesses who act now.

The four trends that South Africa companies should adopt are embracing a new multi-stakeholder model that encompasses transparency and empathy; reskilling to transform the workforce for a new world economy; harnessing the power of data and redesigning the work experience to inspire and invigorate employees.

According to the report, 75% of HR leaders in South Africa who participated in the survey expected Covid-19 to negatively affect their businesses. Defining future workforce needs and sustainably restructuring and reinventing should be top priorities for 2021, if companies and organisations are to navigate through the economic crisis sustainably and cost-effectively.

Tamara Parker, Mercer South Africa CEO told Biz Community, “Many South African companies have realised that life will never be the same again post Covid-19. Business survival will, to a large extent, depend on how companies and organisations embrace the future, use technology, invest in skilling and re-skilling employees, develop tailor-made employee benefits, incorporate mental well-being into HR models, develop sustainable working models, and embed Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices in business models.”

Parker added, “Up to 67% of the companies surveyed are already building ESG goals into their broader transformation agendas, significantly more than the global average (45%); while one in five organisations (20%) are embedding ESG metrics into executive scorecards.”

The Biz Community article adds that, as a result, companies and organisations have started deeper conversations on such issues as developing people practices that will endure post the pandemic, finding sustainable flexible employee models which can be used as foundations for growth, or for reinventing the future. Companies are now confronted with unavoidable conversations on how they can use the lessons of the pandemic and use innovation, born out of necessity, to develop a new way of working and plan for reinvention and innovation.

Ready, set, reskill

At the Mercer briefing, Naidoo pointed out that two of the major barriers HR faces when it comes to employee reskilling are a lack of budget and lack of direction. She believes it is imperative HR to work more closely with business in order to successfully assist with this process.

The trend report has revealed that the race to reskill for a new world economy has started. Of the companies surveyed, at least 63% are already targeting workforce reskilling towards critical talent pools, while 13% intend to increase spending on workforce upskilling/reskilling for the entire workforce.

Naidoo suggested that, “Companies and organisations should identify skills that will be needed in the future and share this information with employees. “Sharing information also means creating pathways for employees to fill future roles in an organisation.”

Re-energising the employee experience

Also speaking at the launch of the report, Keletjo Chiloane, also a senior associate at Mercer, pointed out the biggest issue for HR in 2021 is employee fatigue. So how do we energise the employee experience?

• Stay connected to the people;
• Design for health and well-being;
• Co-create new experiences; and
• Focus on target interactions.

“Big data is going to be the centrepiece of programmes to re-engage employees.” Of the companies surveyed, 38% want to enable digital health check-ups to promote health goals.

The Biz Community article points out that a third of those surveyed planned to address mental or emotional well-being at the workplace, a similar number said they want to introduce a mental well-being strategy, and just under 30% of those surveyed planned to train managers to spot mental health issues before they became an issue.

Overall and in order for businesses to succeed, companies need to develop HR strategies and redesign business models which reflect the new digital reality, as well as the new shape of work.

According to an article by the North American Sweeper Magazine, there are two other trends to keep an eye on.

Networking With Businesses and Other Organizations

The article points out that business experts suggest this may be the most popular trend of 2022 — networking in your market. Instead of working on business growth all on their own, small business owners are multiplying their marketing and branding efforts by networking with fellow local business owners.

They’re discovering that obtaining referrals to other business operators, listening to their perspectives, and learning from their experiences, can offer significant advantages. It can benefit sales and marketing efforts, and a broadened perspective can further help improve leadership skills. It also presents opportunities to form new mutually beneficial business relationships that can lead to profitable collaborations and exceptional branding benefits.

Making Branding Personal

The article adds that effective personal branding as well as business branding per se is becoming an increasingly high priority for today’s best small business marketers. Too many owners of small and growing businesses prefer to stay so far behind the scenes and leave their logo to represent the company as the image of its brand. They opt to avoid showing their market who they are and what they’re about. It appears to be something to do with not exposing their human vulnerabilities.

But the strongest loyalty you can build for your business is through engaging your audience and letting them become familiar with you and your team as genuine people who enjoy serving the community.

Robin Nicholson is the Director of Corporate-911 and is a Senior Business Rescue Practitioner